Be Fearless

Pastor Burcham's Sermon

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Joe is faced with the biggest challenge of his life, a challenge that he's walked away from in the past because he just wasn't up to it. This is a huge challenge. This is bigger than standing up to Jimmy Johnson in 5 th Grade. This is a big challenge. This has caused him more consternation and given him more nervous fits than the night before he asked Mary Lou to the Senior Prom. This is a challenge beyond all challenges for Joe. We visit Joe now. We see him at his desk. He has sweaty palms. His heart is pounding, because he doesn't know. Will he stand up to the challenge this time or, as in the past, will he walk away? Let's watch and find out what he does.

(Video) “I chickened out.”

“You chickened out?”

“You know, inviting Steve and his family to church with us Christmas Eve. [Sigh.] I just couldn't do it. I don't know what's the matter with me.”

“There's nothing wrong with you. It's normal to be scared. I mean, really, think about it. What's the worst that could happen?”

“Yeah. Hang on a second. Hey, Joe, what's up?”

“I'm sorry. Are you on the phone?”

“No, no. Come on.”

“Well, ah, my wife and I would like to invite you to our Christmas service. It's going to be on the 24 th . It's Christmas Eve.”

“What?! You want me to go to church with you!?”

“No.”

“You don't think I know how to do God or anything like that? I don't need your church. I'm not some sort of heathen lunatic or anything like that. Hey, Martha, guess what? I need some churchin'. You know what, because I've been bad. I don't want to go to church, man!”

“It's not like he's going to go crazy and start screaming or anything. Who knows? He may even be excited that you asked him.”

“Hey, hang on a second. Hi, Joe, what's up?”

“Um, I'm not interrupting?”

“No, no, not at all. What's going on?”

“Ah, well, ah, my wife and I would, we're just wondering if you would like to go to our Christmas Eve service. It's December 24.”

“Oh, Joe. Joseph, you don't know how long I've been waiting for you to ask! Oh, I'm going to church. I'm finally going to church with you. This is so awesome! Martha, it's wonderful. Wait until I tell Sarah. I'm going to church. It's going to be so great. Whew! Hey, he finally asked me! He finally asked me to go to church! Oh, I'm going to church.”

“That's not going to happen.”

“What's that? Just ask him, Honey. It'll be okay.”

“Look, I'll ask him.”

“I love you.”

“Yeah, I love you, too. Bye.”

What is it that strikes fear in the hearts of men and women to invite somebody to come to church with them? Why is it we can talk about the latest gizmo we have or our new car but yet we don't want to utter the name of Jesus? How is it we can try to be persuasive and convince our friends to join the country club with us because it would be such fun but yet we hardly ever talk about the activities that are happening in our congregation? Why is it we have such a difficult time talking about our faith? It's not like we don't think it's important because we do. We wouldn't be here if we didn't. It's not like we don't know about Jesus' command when He says to go and make disciples of all nations or Jesus telling us we'll be His witnesses throughout the world. We even know how important it is to get that message to everyone. We know of the importance of our own faith and what our relationship with Christ has done for us and how much we would like that to happen for every person in the world and yet there's this fear that grips us. We break out in a cold sweat and we fall silent just at the idea we might have to extend an invitation or we might have to talk about our spiritual life just a little bit.

My Friends, if we're going to be the powerful, persuasive witnesses Jesus has called us to be, then we have to get over our fears. In fact, we have to become fearless in our witness. We need to be powerful, persuasive, and fearless witnesses for Jesus. But if we're going to get over our fears, if we're going to learn to get past our fears, there's only one way it's going to happen. We have to face our fears. We have to come toe to toe with our fears, face them, and then overcome them.

The disciples understood that. In fact, I believe the disciples understood it more than you and I understand it because they understood true fear because they were afraid to speak the name of Jesus to anyone. You might recall, on the day Jesus rose from the dead, He showed Himself to the apostles and other people. And yet, where do we find the disciples that very evening? John records it for us, “On the evening of the first day of the week, the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews.” You have eleven grown men hiding out in a room. Deadbolts are locked. Curtains are drawn. They're over in a corner with all the lights turned down low because they don't want anyone to know they're there. They're fearful of their fellow countrymen. They're fearful of their fellow Jews of what might happen to them. And I should say their fear was justified. If you figure, just three days earlier, Jesus, who was seen as a troublemaker, an insurgent who was going against the establishment, the religious leaders of that time with the help of Pontius Pilate, made sure He got railroaded through a mock trial. They nailed Him to a cross as a common thief and laughed as He died. Now if they're willing to do that to a leader, a leader that could gather crowds of 3,000, 4,000, and 5,000 people at a time, then what's to stop them from going after His followers? And certain the eleven that are gathered in that room are known associates of Jesus. If you will, they're part of the inner circle. If they're willing to kill Jesus, then certainly they're willing to kill the inner circle as well. Justifiably, they are afraid. They will not go out into the streets of Jerusalem . They will not speak the name of Jesus to anyone because they're afraid for their very lives.

What about our fears? Certainly, we don't have to be fearful for our very lives. The country we live in gives us a freedom, a freedom of religion that says we can talk about our faith, we can talk about Jesus as openly as we want. No fear of retribution. Nobody's going to arrest us. Nobody's going to throw us in jail. And certainly, nobody is going to execute us because we espouse a faith in Jesus as the Son of God. So what are our fears?

In a book written several years ago, Good News is Worth Sharing , the author, Lief Anderson, decided he would interview Christians and try to discover from them what was it that stopped them from either extending an invitation to a friend or talking about their faith or giving a witness to Jesus. Well, he came up with a whole list of fears but there are the top three and I wonder if you resonate with the top three.

The third one was a fear you'd say something wrong, that somehow your words would be incorrect, that it wouldn't be biblically right, and somehow you'd probably do more damage than good. So there's a fear you'd say something wrong.

The second most popular fear is the fear you wouldn't be able to answer their questions. So you might share with them about your faith and what's happening. They would pose a question to you, and you'd just be dumbfounded. You wouldn't know how to answer them.

But the number one fear, the greatest fear among Christians and why they don't testify to their faith is the fear of rejection, the person we're talking to would reject us. It would be humiliating. We would be embarrassed. Maybe we'd lose their friendship. Maybe there would be a strain in our relationship if it's a family member. But they would reject us and, therefore, it's stopped us. That fear kept us.

Are those fears as legitimate as the fears of the disciples? I wouldn't say they're quite as severe as what was threatening the disciples, but they're still legitimate. They're legitimate because they're the fears we have. Therefore, those fears need to be faced. We need to come up toe to toe with them if we're ever going to overcome them. That's what happened with the disciples. Peter and the apostles had to come toe to toe with their fears if they were ever going to get past them and, once they did, there was no looking back.

Luke records for us in the Book of Acts. Now remember, this is seven weeks after Easter. This is seven weeks after the crucifixion and the death of Jesus and His resurrection. Most of the people in Jerusalem have stayed for the feast of Pentecost. It's the same religious leaders, the same rulers are there at the time. They were fearful of them just seven weeks earlier but, on Pentecost, it says this, “Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd. ‘Fellow Jews and all you who live in Jerusalem .'” With those words, Peter came face to face with his fears. He goes from cowering in the corner of a room with the shades pulled for fear of the Jews to standing up boldly and calling their attention saying, “Fellow countrymen, fellow Jews, I have something to say to you.” And he goes on to give a bold testimony of Jesus as the Son of God and what they had done to Jesus and the good news of His love and forgiveness for them. But it all started because he was willing to face his fears and overcome those fears.

That's where it begins with us. You and I need to face our fears, be honest about our fears before we'll ever overcome them. The only way I know we can face our fears is to look at them as best as we can objectively. Is it really something for us to be afraid of? Is it really something that should stop us from giving a testimony of Jesus?

Let's just take the top three. Fear we're going to say something wrong. How can that be? God has called you to be a witness. A witness simply tells what they know and have experienced to be true. If you tell somebody else about your relationship with God and how God has changed your life, how God saw you through some tough times, or how God had really added joy to your life and special moments in your life, if you're simply telling about your relationship with God, how can you say anything wrong? You can't. Because that's what a witness is and that's all Jesus asked you to be. A witness tells what they know and have experienced to be true. That's a witness.

There's the fear we won't have all the answers to the questions they ask. Who does? Who has all the answers? I don't have all the answers. You don't have all the answers. There are lots of things we don't have answers to. We have answers to the most important questions. We have answers to the eternal questions but there are lots of things God has left open out there that's just a big question mark for me because I don't know the answers. For example, did Adam have a belly button? I don't know. It doesn't seem like he would but maybe he did. What's a cubit? I mean, if God's going to tell Noah he has to build this huge ship for all these animals, don't you think He could have given it in millimeters or inches? What's a cubit? I don't know what a cubit is. Now here's one that will keep you up at night. If God is all powerful and God can create anything, then can God create a rock so large that He can't lift it? It takes a minute for that one to sink in, doesn't it? That will keep you up at night as you ponder that. I don't know. How do you answer those questions? We don't need to have all the answers, and I'm talking about more than just the silly questions we might ask. A witness is never called upon to give testimony to something they don't know. Jesus says you're a witness. That means you give testimony to what you know and what you've experienced.

Fear of rejection? That's a real one. But let's take a look at that in two ways. First of all, they're not rejecting you. It's actually worse, but they're not rejecting you. Second of all, if you, with a sincere heart, show someone and let them see you genuinely care about them, you're concerned for them, and this is something which is genuinely important to you, it's a large part of your life and you share that with them, it has to be a rare individual who will take offense to that, a rare individual who would reject you because of that or somehow hold it against you. I just don't see it happening.

The fact is we have to face the fears, look at them objectively, and then, in the power of God, overcome them. Just take the leap, say the words, make the next move, overcome those fears, and then there's no looking back. It's time for us to be fearless, fearless certainly in our lives as we live out our Christian faith but also we have to take the next step. And the next step is to be fearless in our words, to be able to articulate our faith, to articulate an invitation to another person. God has called upon us to be witnesses and we are to be fearless, persuasive, powerful witnesses. The disciples, once again, are a prime example of that on Pentecost Sunday. Peter becomes an incredibly fearless witness. Now let's just go over the setup again. We're in Jerusalem . We're filled with the very same people who cried, “Crucify Jesus.” It's the same chief priest that condemned Him, the same religious leaders that sort of railroaded Him through the system. Peter stands up to that crowd and he has some remarkable words to say to them. He tells them the Messiah they have been waiting for, the Messiah that generation upon generation upon generation has been promised, for hundreds of years, great-grandfathers to grandfathers to fathers to children to the next generation promising when the Messiah comes and He'll usher in a new era. So the thing that unified the Jewish people was the hope and the promise of the Messiah. What does Peter say about the Messiah? Well, he addresses them and he says this, “This man,” meaning Jesus, “was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to a cross.” Or at the end he says, “Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this. God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Or another translation, “both Lord and Messiah.” Peter is basically standing up and saying to the crowds that are there “The Messiah you've been waiting for, you've been hoping for, you've been praying for, for hundreds of years for generations, guess what? He was here, Folks. You know He was here because you saw the miracles and the signs He performed. You know He was here because you see the fulfillment of prophecy. You know He was here because all of us are telling you death couldn't hold Him but He came back to life. You know He was here because you're seeing the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on this very day. You saw the Messiah and you missed it. And worse than that, you nailed Him to a tree and you watched Him die.” That's being pretty bold. That's being pretty fearless given the crowd he is addressing. But what happens after that? God's spirit moves through them and the next thing we have recorded is they look at the apostles and they say, “What do we do now? We killed the Messiah. What do we do now?” And Peter comes in with the gospel message and he says, “Repent and be baptized. Receive the free forgiveness of God. Have the gift of His Holy Spirit come into your heart. The promise is for you and your children. In fact, the promise is for all people.” And scripture tells us 3,000 people were snatched out of hell and are in heaven at this very moment enjoying the joy and the splendor because Peter was willing to face his fears, overcome those fears, and to be this powerful and persuasive witness. Because he was willing to do that, you and I are gathered here this morning. Because the Book of Acts outlines for us they didn't stop there. Once they overcame their fears, there was no stopping them. They continued to preach about Jesus with the same boldness, the same fearless witness we saw on Pentecost. On more than one occasion, they would say to the Jews, “The Messiah was here but you crucified Him. The Messiah was here but you nailed Him to the cross.” And they would share with them the gospel message and there was no way they were going to stop.

One example comes to us from Acts 4. Peter and John are standing before the Sanhedrin, that is the Jewish legal system at that point. The high priest is there. Also, all the religious leaders are there. What's the testimony they give in front of them? Just a couple of snippets: First of all, he says, “It's by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, that this man was healed.” And then it says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” A bold, fearless witness. What comes out of this trial? Well, they come back to the apostles and they say this, “Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ‘Stop teaching Jesus. Stop talking about Jesus,' they said.” What do Peter and John say? Peter and John say, “Judge for yourselves whether it's right in God's sight to obey you or to obey God.” Then they go on to say, “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and what we have heard. Peter and John would never stop. They overcame their fears, and there was nothing that would stop them. Was their message always well received? Not always. Sometimes they were thrown in court, sometimes thrown in jail, sometimes just thrown out of town. But that wouldn't stop them. Because they became fearless witnesses for Jesus.

It's time for you and I to be fearless witnesses for Jesus. It's time for us to face our fears, overcome those fears, and never look back again. The same Holy Spirit that empowered the apostles empowers you. You'll never know that power until you step toe to toe with your fears and you say the words, you make the next move, and then you will know God's power. Then you will feel God's power working in your heart as He speaks through you as He gives you the words to speak.

Now, will it always turn out great? Will everybody hang on every word you say? Will everyone accept the invitation you give to them? No, it's not going to happen that way. But what you don't know are the seeds God will plant because of your testimony, the seeds God will plant because of your witness. One personal experience: When I was in college, I had a job to sort of work my way through. I met a friend named Norm. Norm and I became pretty good friends. Then pretty soon, I met Norm's wife, Kathy. Norm met Kathy when he was in the Air Force in England . That means Kathy is English and she grew up in England . In England , at least when she went through the system, religion was just another course. It was like math or science or history. And like some people don't like history, some people don't like math, Kathy didn't like religion. In fact, she even was worse than “didn't like religion.” She was anti-God, anti-religion, thought the whole thing was a hoax, was just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, and didn't want to have anything to do with it.

Well, I met Kathy. We became friends and, sooner or later, the conversation came up. So Kathy looked at me and said, “So, Ron, what are you going to college for?” That was interesting, so I told her. She visibly stiffened up and she said, “Why would you want to do that? Why would you do that?” I told her that God called me to do that. For the next year or so, there would be little jabs here, little comments there Kathy would make, just kind of needle me. It was okay. Then pretty soon, Kathy would ask me questions. I'd just answer the questions of what I knew and what I experienced and what it was all about. Well, I'd like to end the story by saying, “On a cool summer evening in the moonlight, there with Norm and Kathy. All of a sudden, she confessed Jesus and came to faith.” It didn't happen that way. It didn't. In fact, what happened was I graduated and I moved on to St. Louis and seminary. They moved off to Ohio . But what I found out later, in conversations several years after that, was that, while they were in Ohio , they joined a church. They had all the kids baptized. And Kathy was an active member in that church. Some seeds had gotten planted ever how many years before. You never know how many seeds you're planting when you give a powerful, persuasive, and fearless witness for Jesus.

Let's pull it all together. Two weeks ago, I asked you to identify someone that didn't have a church home. Maybe they have a relationship with God, but they have no place where they can enjoy the fellowship of believers and they can grow in that relationship. Last week, I said, “Look at yourself. Can you articulate your relationship with God? Identify a couple of times when you felt specifically close to God? And then look at the person you've been thinking about, praying for, where are they in life, what stage are they in life?” Well, now it's time to become fearless. We were looking for the opportunities, and God is opening one up as far as I'm concerned.

The opportunity is two weekends from now. In my humble opinion, in the whole Des Moines area, no one does the 4 th of July like Urbandale . No offense to the other communities. I live in Johnston myself. But as far as I'm concerned, nobody does the 4 th of July like Urbandale and I believe the whole Des Moines area, at least the western side, knows that, from the parade and all the other things that are happening here. That is an opportunity, My Friends, because here at Gloria Dei there will be special things happening as well. We'll be having special services on that Sunday. The orchestra and the choir you saw, that was just a little snippet of what's to come on July 2. So we're going to have the patriotic choir and the patriotic orchestra here. We'll do some numbers as far as thanking God for the country we live in. I'll be offering a message, a new series we're starting, called The Road Signs of Life . The road sign for that Sunday, I won't tell you anything more than this, is the road sign of caution. So let your imagination work on that. But it's an opportunity. It's an opportunity to invite that friend, that family member, that neighbor, a fellow student of yours, to come with you to worship. Link it up with a barbecue. Link it up with going to the parade on the 4th . But it's an opportunity for you to be a fearless, persuasive, and powerful witness for Jesus.

Because, My Friends, He's counting on us. He has decided the way He's going to spread His news and His kingdom is through us. Because He said, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem , Judea and Samaria , to the ends of the earth.” Amen.

Copyright 2006 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church